Is it wise to invest in index funds?
Consistently buying an S&P 500 index fund over time is one of the best investment decisions you can make. Index funds are good investments for beginners because you don't need to know much about investing or financial markets to do well.
Over the long term, index funds have generally outperformed other types of mutual funds. Other benefits of index funds include low fees, tax advantages (they generate less taxable income), and low risk (since they're highly diversified).
Index funds are popular because they are low-cost, enable diversification, and have a long track record of generating attractive returns that outperform actively managed funds. Legendary investor Warren Buffett has long touted index funds as a smart investment.
To be sure, if you have the time, knowledge, and desire to create a portfolio of individual stocks, by all means, go for it. But even if you do own individual stocks, index funds can form a solid base for your portfolio. Index funds offer investors of all skill levels a simple, successful way to invest.
While it's true that index funds have historically provided solid returns, it's important to remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Blindly putting all of your savings into index funds without considering other investment options or your personal financial goals could be a mistake.
In fact, a number of billionaire investors count S&P 500 index funds among their top holdings. Among those are Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Dalio's Bridgewater, and Griffin's Citadel.
Probably the biggest thing to consider here is what timescale you consider them to be “safe” over. Over the long term, index investments are probably fairly safe- if you put some money in an index fund and left it for 10+ years, most likely it would have increased by then.
While indexes may be low cost and diversified, they prevent seizing opportunities elsewhere. Moreover, indexes do not provide protection from market corrections and crashes when an investor has a lot of exposure to stock index funds.
The overall market is almost certain to produce tangible value over the long term. Therefore, total book value of all the underlying stocks in an index is expected to go up over the long term. This means that a well-diversified index fund should not decline significantly in value, given a long time horizon.
The biggest difference between investing in index funds and investing in stocks is risk. Individual stocks tend to be far more volatile than fund-based products, including index funds. This can mean a bigger chance for upside … but it also means considerably greater chance of loss.
Is there a downside to index funds?
For investors that take the time to learn and understand how to select individual stocks for their needs and properly manage a portfolio of them, they can achieve a lot of the benefits of index funds (great long-term returns with low fees) without some of the downsides (potential overvaluation, liquidity mismatches, ...
Disadvantages include the lack of downside protection, no choice in index composition, and it cannot beat the market (by definition). To index invest, find an index, find a fund tracking that index, and then find a broker to buy shares in that fund.
For example, if everyone buys index funds, the values of the stock prices of the underlying companies won't reflect the fair value of the companies in the stock market. Instead the prices of stocks will simply reflect the the inflow of funds to indexes.
Another reason some investors don't invest in index funds is that they may have a preference for investing in a particular industry or sector. Index funds are designed to provide exposure to broad market indices, which may not align with an investor's specific interests or values.
Ideally, you should stay invested in equity index funds for the long run, i.e., at least 7 years. That is because investing in any equity instrument for the short-term is fraught with risks. And as we saw, the chances of getting positive returns improve when you give time to your investments.
According to Standard and Poor's, the average annualized return of the S&P index, which later became the S&P 500, from 1926 to 2020 was 10%. 1 At 10%, you could double your initial investment every seven years (72 divided by 10).
The short answer is a resounding yes. Let's take a look at why this is. While past investment performance doesn't guarantee future results, the return of S&P 500 index funds has been about 9% to 10% annualized per year over long periods, depending on the exact timeframe you're looking at.
In 2007, Buffett bet a million dollars that over the course of a decade, a simple S&P 500 index fund would outperform a basket of hand-picked hedge funds. He picked the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX). Hedge fund manager Ted Seides from Protégé Partners accepted the bet and picked five funds-of-funds.
Ultra-wealthy individuals invest in such assets as private and commercial real estate, land, gold, and even artwork. Real estate continues to be a popular asset class in their portfolios to balance out the volatility of stocks.
- 9 Safest Index Funds and ETFs to buy in 2024. ...
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO 0.84%) ...
- Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM 0.29%) ...
- Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ 0.3%) ...
- iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT 0.76%) ...
- Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP 0.72%) ...
- iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV 0.02%)
How easy is it to take money out of an index fund?
There are hundreds of funds, tracking many sectors of the market and assets including bonds and commodities, in addition to stocks. Index funds have no contribution limits, withdrawal restrictions or requirements to withdraw funds.
The average stock market return is about 10% per year, as measured by the S&P 500 index, but that 10% average rate is reduced by inflation. Investors can expect to lose purchasing power of 2% to 3% every year due to inflation. » Learn more about purchasing power with NerdWallet's inflation calculator.
The S&P 500, through index funds from the likes of Vanguard and SPDR, provides long-term returns that have historically outpaced inflation.
So if you're happy with a portfolio that performs comparably to the stock market as a whole, then sticking to S&P 500 ETFs alone isn't a bad idea. However, if you assemble a portfolio of individual stocks that perform better, you might enjoy a 12% or 15% return over time -- or more.
Index funds seek market-average returns, while active mutual funds try to outperform the market. Active mutual funds typically have higher fees than index funds. Index fund performance is relatively predictable; active mutual fund performance tends to be less so.
